Rachel Knight

Rachel Knight (March 1849-11 February 1899) was the wife of southern unionist rebel Newton Knight. She was born in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia in 1849, and she was owned by Jackie Knight. During her slavery, she secretly learned to read, and she was later freed during the American Civil War. She fell in love with Knight, and they became life partners, as Newton was not allowed to marry her due to miscegenation laws. Instead, he arranged for her to receive a parcel of land as inheritance. Their great-grandson Davis Knight was convicted of miscegenation in 1948.